


Ren has a semi-emotional talk with a blonde.

by ConnorTriesToWrite



Category: RWBY
Genre: AFTER VOLUME 8 EPISODE 4 OF RWBY, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Nonbinary Lie Ren, Other members of ORNJ and RWBY are mentioned, Spoilers: Volume 8 (RWBY), Volume 8 (RWBY), bumbleby implied, idk if this counts but im projecting bpd on lie ren gg, neurodivergent lie ren, non-binary lie ren, they/them lie ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27767950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConnorTriesToWrite/pseuds/ConnorTriesToWrite
Summary: After losing Oscar and being stranded out in the Tundra, Lie Ren isn't sure how to process so much loss at once. Everything is falling apart, changing, and maybe they said a few things they regret.(Takes place immediately after Volume 8 Chapter 4)
Kudos: 39





	Ren has a semi-emotional talk with a blonde.

It’s been over a year since the fall of Beacon. Over a year since they lost friends, found-family, their new home… and they’ve just been given their huntsman license. Of course, that’s a bit null now that they’re also a fugitive, but that’s all semantics.

Today, they don’t know what to feel, or if they feel anything, or if there’s just so much emotion that it’s all blurred together. This isn’t normal. This isn’t Ren. But that’s the issue, isn’t it? That “Lie Ren” is defined by their lack of emotional responses? And yet here they are, yelling at friends, family, pushing everyone away. 

It’s selfish, isn’t it? To feel these petty feelings when the rest of the world is on the cusp of destruction. But how are they supposed to stop? There’s no time to rest, to think, they just watched Oscar be carried away by some horrifying new grimm, just to save two people who should have been able to save themselves- No. That’s not fair, they tried the best they could, but… They can’t help but blame Jaune and Yang. And Ruby, Weiss, Blake… Nora.

Logically, they know it’s not any of their faults. They weren’t, no one was ready for everything to escalate so quickly. Hell, they signed up to go to school with their friend and maybe make a living off of protecting villages that couldn’t protect themselves. But instead, here they are, with more lost loved ones and no idea how to prevent history from repeating.

It isn’t fair, none of this is fair, and there’s no time to talk about how unfair it is without someone else being taken away from them. It’s tragedy, after tragedy, after _tragedy_ , with no time to catch their breath or apologize for yelling. How… how are they supposed to say sorry when they still feel the same way? It isn’t fair to have to lie, but it isn’t… they don’t know how to stop feeling like this. It’s new, it’s horrifying, and it’s getting dangerous. Keeping their cool is crucial to their survival, their semblance is pointless if they’re the one with the unmaskable feelings.

But abandoning everyone right now would be so much worse, wouldn’t it? They’re inside, trying to fix the bike so they don’t all freeze to death out in the tundra, and here Ren is sitting outside in the cold feeling sorry for themself. But they don’t know what else to do, if they stay inside they might ruin their bonds even more, if they’re not already severed. They can’t even look in the window, if they made eye contact… they wouldn’t be able to hold it together. They can’t risk another emotional outburst, not when they’re surrounded by grimm.

They pull their legs against their body, trying to generate some heat for themself. If they can’t bear being inside, there’s still no reason to freeze to death out here. No point adding another name to the long list of historic casualties that will surely be taught in classes across Remnant once this blows over, if anyone survives. Not that it would matter, it’s not like anything they do will actually prevent the end of the world from happening now. Salem has Oscar, the relic, they could very well have missed the end of the world in the time they’ve been spiraling out in the snow and they would never know it.

It takes a bit too long for them to recognize the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow, only realizing that someone’s there once the sounds stop. They keep their head tucked down, hoping that maybe if they’re unresponsive that Jaune will go away.

Yang spends a few moments looking Ren over, unsure what to say. Yeah, she’s a little pissed at them for that outburst earlier, but they look darnright pitiful out here in the cold. Not much she can complain about that though, she’s had her fair share of pity parties. Ruby can probably attest to that.

She takes a seat next to them, wincing a bit at the cold snow on the exposed part of her leg. Her aura isn’t doing much to keep her warm now, and maybe she’s regretting her fashion choices, but there's no way in hell she’s gonna give up her fun lil asymmetrical leg thing just because a little bit of sky dandruff is trying to convince her otherwise. She looks them over again, taking note of their shivering.

“Y’know, much more time out here and you’re gonna be a ren-pop. And if Nora finds you once you’re frozen, I’d bet a solid few lien that she’s gonna see if her tongue sticks to your forehead, “ Yang looks for a response, continuing after a few moments, “oh come on, you telling me that wasn’t a good _ice-breaker_?”

Ren lets out an involuntary half-laugh, keeping their head down as they mumble, “You’re not who I was expecting.” 

“Jaune figured that you probably didn’t want to see him right now, and I can’t really blame him for thinking that, considering-” She stopped herself, realizing that maybe getting onto them for that outburst might do more damage right now. She couldn’t think of how to continue off of that though, leaving too much space for Ren to reply.

“Considering that I shared his secret just to hurt him?” Ren peeked their head up, just enough for Yang to see the redness at the corners of Ren’s eyes, “I wouldn’t blame him for hating me after that. He wouldn’t be the only one.”

Yang scooted over to sit in front of Ren, rather than beside them, “Jaune doesn’t hate you. He just… doesn’t know how to help you, you’re his teammate and his friend, he probably even considers you family. And it’s really, _really_ hard to help family when you don’t know what they’re feeling and why they feel that way.” She looked to the ground, sighing, “If it makes you feel any better, I think I get it. Blake probably thinks I’m wrong for not going with them, for abandoning my team…”

Ren tucked their head back down, “You don’t understand. This isn’t just about what’s happening right now. I’m used to making mistakes, I’m used to losing people, I-... I’m prepared to lose Jaune, too.” They pulled their legs closer, their hands balling into fists, “I’m _not_ used to reacting like this. To not knowing what to do, how to move forward, to…” They trail off, their throat voice becoming a bit hoarse now, “I can’t… I just can’t do this, I’m not ready. None of us are.”

Yang keeps her eyes towards the snow, trying to wrack her brain for the right reply. But there isn’t one, she knows that Ren kind of has a point here. They aren’t ready, but… “We may never be ready. But no one is, not a single person was ready for what’s happening now. But there’s people out there, trying, and surviving. Saving lives, as little as they may be, it’s still better than saving none.” She looks up towards Ren, who has peeked back up to look at the snow between them, “You’re still here, Ren. And you haven’t lost Jaune, or Nora, or any of us. You’ve saved lives, back on the train, getting people through the streets in Mantle, you made a difference. And yeah, we… we aren’t ready, that’s okay, ‘cause I’m sure Salem isn’t ready for us to kick her ass either. But she’s gonna have to suck it up and deal with it anyways, right?”

Ren rolls their eyes, “Yeah…” They lift their head up to wipe their face off before the muck that comes with crying ends up freezing onto them.

Yang takes a look at their face, before politely letting them know, “You look like shit. How about we go inside before we end up as frozen delights for the grimm?” She reaches a hand out between them.

Ren stretches their limbs before reaching out for Yang’s metal hand, the surprisingly warmer one, as they help each other up. They wordlessly lean together, shuffling their way back inside the building. Jaune can’t help but peek over, just in time to see Ren give him a bit of a pitiful apology smile. He smiles back, albeit with a little concern for how cold the two of his friends look.

“Do you.. I mean, are you uh, y’know-”

Ren chuckles a bit at Jaune’s stuttering, letting Yang go by the heater as they continue towards Jaune, nearly walking into him. Jaune recognizes this as Ren’s way of initiating a hug, which Jaune happily supplies. They lean in, sighing against the warmth. They stay tucked against Jaune, moving their head enough so they can speak, “I’m sorry for earlier, that wasn’t fair to you,” they pause once Jaune tightens the hug for a moment, before pulling back to put his hands on Ren’s shoulders.

“I’m just glad you’re still here, and we can talk things out once everyone’s safe. You’re still my friend, and I’m here for you even if you have a Cardin moment-”

“Do _not_ compare me to _Cardin_.” Ren smiles, playful pushing Jaune back a bit.

“Aw man, that wasn’t even a good bully shove. A real Cardin would have knocked me back on my ass!” He smiles back, punctuating the teasing by sticking his tongue out.

Yang, being yang, calls over from by the heater, “Grosssss, get a room!”

Jaune and Ren glance at each other before heading in her direction, Jaune scooping them both up in a patent-pending Jaune Hug as Yang psuedo-whines about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I don't do stuff like this much, I usually stick to drawing for RWBY Rewrite, but I wanted to try writing since I felt very emotional about the past few episodes. Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments! I would love to improve and write more in the future <3


End file.
